Things I love Thursdays! [ Christmas Cookies! ]

Oh Christmas cookies, how I love you! 

A few snapshots from our first cookie-decorating success of the season! 

Happy Thursday, all!

~jazzy

Things I love Thursdays! [ Christmas Music ]

Jingle Bells, Jingle Bells, Jingle all the way...

Joy to the World!

Sleigh bells ring, are you listening? In the lane, snow is glistening. A beautiful sight, we're happy tonight, walking in a winter wonderland.

Oh Holy Night

Frosty the Snowman                  Carol of the Bells

Silent night, holy night. All is calm, all is bright... Christ the Savior is born!

Let it snow! Let it Snow! Let it Snow!

I just love Christmas music! Our tradition at home is not to listen to any Christmas music until the end of the Macy's Parade on Thanksgiving, and often, the last few days of waiting are a bit painful as my anticipation for this incredible music grows. As soon as Santa ushers in the holiday season, my Christmas playlist is on shuffle and non-stop repeat for the entire month of December. This time of year always brings back my childhood dream of becoming a singer (and sometimes, when I'm driving home in my car, singing carols at the top of my lungs, I pretend that I am!). 

I love all the old classics- Bing Crosby singing White Christmas, Nat King Cole and The Christmas Song, Burl Ives and his version of Holly Jolly Christmas, Andy Williams belting out It's the Most Wonderful Time of the Year... 

Of course, discovering original Christmas songs each year is amazing as well. It's kind of like early Christmas presents! I'm also a huge sucker for Christmas love songs! Who doesn't say "Awwwwww!" when they see a holiday Kay's commercial with one of those sappy love songs playing in the background. Gotta love it. 

 What I absolutely love about Christmas songs is that it doesn't matter if you sing them traditionally, or put a little twist on them- they're great no matter what. 

This year, I have a few recommendations for your festive listening pleasure:

1. Michael Buble's newest CD Christmas is simply f.a.b.u.l.o.u.s! The CD opens up with a rich, smooth version of It's Beginning to Look a Lot Like Christmas which will pretty much melt the icicles on any grinch-y heart that's not completely into the season. Also, Michael's rendition of Jingle Bells, featuring the Puppini Sisters is absolutely incredible! Listening to this song makes you want to stop whatever you're doing, grab the nearest person for your dance partner, and break into a little West Coast Swing or Jitterbug. It's just delightful! White Christmas, Blue Christmas, Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas... this CD is a great collection of anything Christmas. If you haven't heard it yet- find yourself a copy. I promise it will be a great addition to your collection, and will keep you humming, whistling, and maybe even dancing all season long! 

2. Jack Johnson's version of Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer is adorable. Not a new song, but I just discovered it the other day, and I love it! The traditional version of this song has always bothered me a bit. Poor Rudolph! Ridiculed and harassed for his shiny little nose. And then- only when he was useful to them, did the other reindeer welcome him back into the fold. Reindeer can be so cruel. The injustice of this song always piqued me. It never seemed fair that Rudolph didn't receive so much as an apology from this snide little pack of caribou. Well thanks to Mr. Johnson, this issue has been resolved in my mind. In his version, not only is Rudolph not duped by the other reindeer's duplicity, but in the end, an apology is issued along with a promise to try and change. Now isn't that the way it should be? 

3. I believe I included this video in one of last year's posts, but I think it's good enough to repost. Jason Mraz's take on Winter Wonderland is one of my favorites. I especially love his live version. 

I do believe that I could go on and on for a long time talking about Christmas songs and my favorite recommendations. I just love them! Perhaps we'll revisit this subject later this season... 

For now, I hope you're enjoying your own set of holiday songs and that they're making your days pass in a melody of happiness. And after this post, maybe you will have one or two more to add to your playlist. 

Happy Thursday, all!

~Jasmine

Luminaries... not quite!

Last night in my home town was one of my favorites of the New Mexico holiday season. Time again for those lovely little paper lanterns called luminaries! For weeks now, I've been looking forward to bundling up in my coat, boots, and scarf and wandering through the magical maze of these twinkling lights. However, Mr. Snow Miser had a different idea last night and decided to douse our lights with snow and slush, forcing this annual tradition to be cancelled. 

Sad times! I was so looking forward to photographing this enchanting part of the New Mexican holidays. (I'm not going to complain too much though, because despite the loss of my luminaries, the weather we've been having this weekend has me absolutely giddy. More on that later.)

So rather than post new photos as I had hoped, I decided to dig through the blog archives and re-post some pictures and thoughts from last year. Enjoy!

~Jasmine

Originally posted on December 14, 2010.

On the 2nd day of Christmas... there were luminaries! It's one of the traditions at my house every year to get together with friends, get all bundled up and go to our local college to walk through the thousands of luminaries they have spread out all over the campus. I'm not sure how widespread the practice of putting up luminaries is, but explaining what they are to someone who's never seen one usually results in a perplexed look. What are luminaries you ask? They're paper lunch bags filled with dirt with a candle inside. Yep. That's all they are. And one may wonder just what it is that's so wonderful about them. Honestly, I don't know. I think it's one of those things that's special because it's attached to so many good memories- not because it's necessarily spectacular. For me, there's something peaceful about getting all wrapped up in my coat and scarf and wandering around the college at night amongst the flickering lights of a thousand New Mexican paper lanterns. The dark of the winter night is contrasted by the glow of the candles, and somewhere in the distance, Christmas carols can be heard. Sometimes there's so much comfort in the simplest of traditions. Sometimes, the things we love don't have to make sense to anyone else.

Take time to enjoy the simple things that are special just to you.

~Jazzy

| Sarah |

This is Sarah.

Sarah has been one of my dearest, and closest friends for years. Our families have lived next door to each other for almost forever, and many of my childhood memories include them. Sarah and I have experienced all the craziness of growing up together. Speech tournaments, road trips, birthdays, our failed attempt at racquetball, cooking fiascos, cooking successes, shopping, California, making our own movie, writing our book, bucking hay, working at a hotel, milking goats, hot tubbing, texting ChaCha at 3am, campaigning, country concerts, sleepovers, vacations, camping, holidays... you name it, we've probably done it together. We have crushes on the same country singers. We did the whole, "Oh my gosh, we're not in high school, we're adults!" thing together. Kinda had a breakdown about growing old together. Sort of promised that we either have to get married at the same time, or stay single together... 

Sarah's a super cool person who has been an enormous blessing in my life. She's compassionate, funny, and smart. She's so laid back (unless we're playing a game- then she's pretty darn competitive) and brings a sense of chill to just about any situation. She's been with me through best, and the hardest parts of my life. 

She's a pretty big part of my life, and on Friday she moved across the country to Hillsdale, Michigan to start a new job and a new chapter in her life. She went to school in Hillsdale, so it's not like we've spent tons of time together for the past 4 years, but she's actually moving there now. To stay. It's the realization once again, that we're not kids any more. Why does this fact seem to take me by surprise all over again every few months? 

Before Sarah moved, we had talked about doing a photo shoot together. We decided that it would be epic to not only have photos done together, but to take the photos as well. I have a renewed respect for my tripod. We did this epic little photo shoot in Sarah's family's barn. Let me just say, quite the stellar location for photos! Hay, old tires, tractor, and an incredible old Ford truck. We were pretty stoked. 

Not too bad considering there wasn't anyone behind the camera, right? 

We're thinking of contacting Ford and seeing if they'd like to pay us for these photos.

Gosh, I'm going to miss her so much...

~Jasmine

My Thanksgiving Weekend

Yes! The holidays are officially here! Thanksgiving weekend was amazing, and now we've all boarded the train that is headed at a breakneck pace toward Christmas and the end of the year. It only gets crazier from here on out, but I'm sooooo excited!

Thanksgiving is a huge deal at our house. The day starts early with a trip to the Salvation Army where we help prepare a meal under the direction of a not-so-cheery Major. Following that, there is a trip to the grocery store for the one inevitably forgotten item. Back at home, we watch the end of Macy's parade and I vow once again to be there in person someday. Of course, as soon as Santa ushers in the season, we immediately begin playing the Christmas music, and pretty much don't listen to anything else for a good four or five weeks. After the parade, time is split between the kitchen, and watching the National Dog Show. If you've never watched this parade of pooches, come next year you simply must! It is adorable. Another happy part of this year's Thanksgiving was watching our favorite football team win their game. Our team doesn't always play on Thanksgiving, and I felt like the fact that they did made our Thanksgiving that much more legit.

The remainder of the afternoon involves last-minute food preparations, rearranging the dining room, carting food over from our neighbor's house, and at last sitting down with them to a scrumptious dinner. We've celebrated Thanksgiving with our good friends, the Harris' for as long as I can remember. We always get together a few weeks before Thanksgiving to plan out the menu and decide who will be baking what pies. I can remember years at their house when we had so many people, that the tables stretched down the dining room and then made a turn and continued on toward the living room. As people have gotten older, gone off to school, and gotten married our group has gotten a little smaller every year, which is the melancholy part of our holiday. Someday though, I think we will have a two family reunion where all of us, including our new families will get together and share this special meal again.

I was reading the blog of one of my friends the other day, and she had mentioned that someone had challenged her to write a list of 1000 things she was thankful for. She said the process had been good for her soul. I think I am going to join her in the list-writing. I think making the conscious decision to acknowledge and record the many blessings in my life can only do good things for my heart.

For now, at the end of the weekend, let me just say that I am incredibly thankful for my family whose faces and names are featured in the photo above. When I think about all the places I could have been raised, all the families I could have grown up in, I feel so blessed. Without these people, the holidays wouldn't mean nearly as much. Love you all!

Hope your holiday weekend was as lovely as mine,

~ Jasmine

I just love this place

It is such a happy day when I have time to wander around outside and just revel in the joy of photography, and delight in the glorious beauty of my Father's world. There's something so peaceful about the absolute stillness of an early winter morning. My breath hangs in the air in little white puffs. The tips of my fingers tingle as they fight the cold. My lungs fill with the sharp, cool air, and I feel very, very alive.

I have such a beautiful, breathtaking home! I'm so blessed.

~ Jasmine

Things I love Thursdays! [ Ooops! ]

Oh my! It's Thursday! I woke up this morning and thought, "Oh no! My Thursday blog isn't posted!"

It's been one of those weeks, peeps, and I'm running a little behind. Hoping to post soon, but for now, please accept my wishes for a lovely Thursday!

~ Jasmine